Review: The Writer by Valerie Keogh
Publication Date: 15 July 2025 | Publisher: Boldwood Books

Cara, a successful author on the brink of releasing her thirtieth novel, is under pressure. With her deadline fast approaching and her publishers planning a major celebration, no one suspects that she’s hit an unfamiliar wall—she’s completely out of inspiration.

But when anonymous, threatening letters begin to arrive and a mysterious figure known only as “the grey man” starts appearing, Cara’s once-structured world begins to unravel. As paranoia creeps in, she turns to her writing as a way to make sense of what’s happening—using her novel to process, investigate, and uncover the truth behind the sinister presence haunting her.

Valerie Keogh masterfully blurs the lines between fiction and reality, crafting a psychological thriller that keeps you questioning what’s real and what’s imagined right up to its chilling finale.

A cleverly written and absorbing read—highly recommended.

The Writer is a gripping psychological thriller that blurs the lines between truth and fiction in a way that’s both unsettling and addictive. Cara is a complex, layered protagonist—vulnerable, brilliant, and increasingly unreliable as she receives anonymous letters that dredge up the past she’s tried to bury.

What I loved most was how the novel plays with perception. As Cara begins to write through her fear, the tension ramps up, and you’re never quite sure what’s real and what’s coming from her increasingly fractured mind. The writing is atmospheric and taut, drawing you into Cara’s headspace until you’re questioning everything right alongside her.

While some twists are more predictable than others, the journey is full of eerie turns and emotional punches. A slightly tighter pace in the middle could’ve made it even stronger, but overall, it’s a smart, suspenseful read that lingers after the final page.

Perfect for fans of psychological thrillers with unreliable narrators and a literary edge.

Such a sad one. Shocking, full of surprises, quite dark but I loved the read and how the end came....genius

I have always been a huge fan of Valerie Keogh’s books. Unfortunately, for me this was not the case with The Writer.

The plot did not have the depth of her usual work, and I found the characters hard to warm to. Usually with this author’s work I am turning the pages at a rapid speed but with this book I found it was the opposite; I did not feel the story was very imaginative
I was quite disappointed with the book. I will continue to read future books
as she has always provided me with excellent stories in the past and maybe this one was just not for me.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of the book, all opinions expressed are my own.

The Writer by Valerie Keogh is a slow burn that takes its time to build suspense. While I usually look forward to Keogh's work, this one didn't quite grip me the way her previous books have. Still, her writing remains strong, and fans of psychological tension might appreciate the gradual pacing. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this early release in exchange for my honest review.

This one had an interesting concept; Cara, a successful author dealing with writer’s block, starts getting strange notes and decides to use those experiences as inspiration for her new book. I liked the idea of blurring the lines between fiction and reality, but at times, it got a little too blurry… even for me as the reader. There were moments I wasn’t sure what was supposed to be real and what was part of Cara’s imagination, which left me feeling a bit disconnected from the story.

Another thing that didn’t work for me was the motive behind everything. The grudge the perpetrator held felt really weak, especially considering how long ago it happened and how minor it actually was. It just didn’t seem believable that it would spark such a dramatic chain of events.
Overall, The Writer had an intriguing premise, but it didn’t live up to my expectations. Hope you enjoy it more than me!

Thanks to Valerie Keogh, Netgalley, and Boldwood Books for the advanced digital copy in exchange for an honest review. (Expected publication: July 15, 2025)

This was my first Valerie Keogh book, and I found it to be very twisty and suspenseful. The storyline was clever, combining strands or narrative so that the reader was kept on their toes. Cara is a successful writer who should be writing their 30th book. But she is out of ideas. Just as she begins to seriously worry about her writers block, a series of sinister events unfolds. The reader is left wondering if this is Cara going gradually mad, or if there really is a stalker determined to ruin her life. I read this very swiftly, anticipating the end, but was suitably shocked.

I did like the storyline but didn't connect much with the characters. Cara was pretty obnoxious. The suspense was good though and I wanted to see how it ended. There was a twist which I enjoyed, however I did not like the ending very much. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this arc!

Thank you Boldwood Books and NetGalley for allowing me to read this e-arc.The Writer is a suspenseful and thought-provoking novel that will appeal to fans of psychological thrillers with a literary twist.

I was very excited to be asked to read and review Valerie’s latest (and 30th!) novel which is about a struggling writer looking for inspiration for her 30th title (I see what you did there!) and it has explosive results. Perfect use of dual POV to build suspense and keep the action flowing.

Cara truly captured my imagination. Her spiraling out of control and struggle to distinguish fact from fiction brought to life all the anxiety and helplessness she was experiencing. The deeper she fell and the less she had a grip on reality made for a vivid and gripping read.

The ending is phenomenal—completely unexpected and utterly unforgettable.

Absolutely worth adding to your basket.

I am grateful to NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. 

‘The Writer’ is a new book by Valerie Keogh. I thoroughly enjoyed ‘The Book Seller’, the last book I read from this author. This, her most recent book, I enjoyed less.

The plot surrounds a youngish woman, who writes psychological-thrillers, so an area in which the author has some knowledge and experience. A long-forgotten incident in the woman’s distant past returns in the form of a stalker; a brief acquaintance from her youth who holds a grudge against her.

The author presents the female protagonist, the ‘Writer’ of the title, not entirely sympathetically. She is accomplished in her career, happily recently-married and has close friends. Nevertheless, she is not entirely engaging to the reader. Married to someone she has never really trusted, wilfully ignorant of household finances, someone who comes across as a bit gullible and naive. She doesn’t really seem the sort of person to write psychological-thrillers !

A confluence of a number of issues causes her life to slowly change. Pressures from her agent to complete a book, a growing uncertainty about her husband’s past and then the unwanted attention of the malevolent person from her youth. Her life begins to unravel as she confuses reality with her fiction and makes unwise assumptions and decisions.

As for the antagonist of the story, the man from her distant past, he oozes toxic-masculinity. Cleary someone with whom the reader will not relate ! In creating such a character, the author has dismissed any nuance she might have employed and made it absolutely crystal-clear who the villain is. Unfortunately this has made him very one-dimensional; essentially a caricature. Many of the other characters are also shallowly portrayed. The gruff blokey husband, the full-of-life best friend, the dour policeman.

The plot is relatively straightforward to follow, with several twists and turns to keep the reader engaged. Chapters are short with most being from the viewpoint of the main protagonist, ‘The Writer’. The chapters from the villain are very short and less frequent.

The setting is modern-day London, but gratingly some things do not seem credible. The atmosphere seems slightly dated. Buying Saturday newspapers, taking the pile (!) of mail to a cafe for the weekly ‘fry-up’ breakfast. Our protagonist, a modern woman, active on social media, (including Bluesky !) uses oddly dated expressions such as ‘damp squib’ and ‘doolally’. It just doesn’t ring true. Neither does ‘The Ivy’ (a very expensive chain of British restaurants) as the default choice when she wants a quick impromptu lunch with a friend. She is neither wealthy, posh nor famous and seems to live in a smallish terrace house. Perhaps too many outings to The Ivy ! And for no particular reason, she shreds routine mail which just seems a little unusual to me.

The dialogue between characters and some scenes seems a little contrived, lacking realism and perhaps even clichéd. ( “…the air crackling with tension…”). I would have preferred something that provided deeper insights into the characters, their thoughts, motivations and actions. One particularly scene in a police interview room is completely outdated given what we know of current procedures involving victims and criminals. Still, without unnecessary distractions the short chapters rapidly drive the plot forward, even if one or two scenes seem barely believable.

The latter parts of the book are more enjoyable. Putting aside the quibbles described above the reader will begin to wonder how the author will wrap up this story. Murder ? Mayhem ? A dramatic plot twist ? All of the above ? The ending is sudden, unexpected and somewhat dark. Quite a surprise ! Unfortunately it was also slightly unbelievable and ultimately unsatisfying.

I cannot recommend this book highly. But for a long flight, a train journey or on the beach it is an ideal read. Not overly long or complicated. There are sufficient twists and turns in the plot to keep the reader engaged. And an ending that is quite something.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.



I had a love-hate relationship with this book. The plot, for one, had an interesting concept. Here, readers could get hints of an unreliable narrator or be wrong as soon as the major curveball grabs them by the throat. I love how every time I came up with theories, almost instantly, the author would debunk them by laying the obvious out.



The problem, however, began when the writing didn't quite keep up with how a thriller is supposed to be written. There were dialogue lines that didn't reflect the urgency and tension the genre required. Still, I was surprised I lasted as long as I did, considering that none of the characters were endearing.



But what drove the knife in deeper was how amateurish the red herrings were structured. The thriller elements felt forced. Some dialogue scenes were even outrageously farcical. Despite its ending with so much potential, had its overall execution been guided by a dark, grim atmosphere and superb writing, the book would have been a blast. It was a struggle to finish. I badly wanted to euphemize my criticisms, but this book sits on a foundation with an interesting plot brewing, yet it never gains enough tension to launch—it just sits in the catapult, weighed down by poor execution.



Towards the end, there was a line that could have been misconstrued as breaking the fourth wall—one that addresses the guilt of how the readers see the ridiculous writing and unlikeable characters. If the farce was intentional, it still didn't make up for how dull and far-fetched the writing is, even within the realm of fiction.

A wonderful read!
This novel drew me in from the very first page and kept me hooked until the end. The characters were vibrant and relatable, the writing was engaging, and the story had just the right balance of heart and humor. Highly recommend!
Many thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

The Writer- Valerie Keogh
Cara is an accomplished thriller writer on the cusp of releasing her 30th book. Her agent and editor and publishing house are eager to get their hands on the new manuscript but little to they know that Cara has a serious case of writers block that she just can't shift.
Then the first note arrives. Followed by a second and a third. Someone is threatening to dismantle life as Cara knows it. It is her husband Artie who is the target of the threats or is it her? Either way, the letters give her the inspiration she needs to embark on her 30th book but will she be around to finish it?

This book was a good read but not my favourite but this author. I found it a bit slow moving and nothing really major happened. I love a good dramatic plot twist and I didn't feel like I encountered anything too dramatic. I did think the author did a great job of creating in the reader, the confusion and anxiety that Cara experiences in the story. I think some of the plot ideas are a bit out there. The main characters motivation for his campaign of terror doesn't seem justifiable to me.
It was an ok read but not my favourite.

I absolutely love Valerie Keogh’s writing style, and the Writer did not disappoint.

We follow along with Cara as she faces writers block, brain freeze and a vicious stalker while trying to pen her 30th novel. The perspective bounces back and forth between “him” and “her” as he progressively makes her feel like she’s losing her mind and sabotages her life.

There were some devastating twists and turns in this one, and you really feel for Cara. I couldn’t get enough!

Highly recommend.

2 stars – for the writing only; the plot just wasn’t for me.

The writing was good. I’m usually not a fan of stories that mix third-person and first-person points of view—I typically prefer only first-person—but the author handled the shifts well and kept the style engaging.

That said, I found it distracting that I couldn’t clearly tell who the man was. Maybe that was part of the intended mystery—whether he was her husband or not—but it didn’t work for me and left me feeling confused.

By the time I reached 30%, the pacing felt too slow. Not much had happened aside from the main character drawing inspiration from her own life for her new psychological thriller. I kept going mainly because the writing itself was solid.

However, I was really put off by a particular moment: the man from the first-person perspective expressing that he would have taken Clara to his apartment and hurt her “like in porn channels.” That was too much for me—it felt disturbing and unnecessary, even for a psychological thriller.

Eventually, the story just wasn’t going anywhere, and I ended up DNF-ing at 40%. It became uncomfortable reading about this man’s explicit thoughts, masturbation and fantasies around her death. There was no real suspense or mystery to keep me hooked, and I was extremely bored.

While the plot and content didn’t work for me, I might still check out other books by this author in the future to see if the subject matter is more in line with my tastes.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Valerie Keogh, The Writer, Boldwood Books, July 2025.

Thank you, NetGalley, for providing me with this uncorrected proof for review.

Valerie Keogh never disappoints, and as I began The Writer, I knew that a treat was to follow. Cara is working, or trying to, on her thirtieth novel – a psychological drama like her previous successful works. As Arty, her husband leaves for work, Tillie her friend variously supports her or tries tough love to get her over her vacillation and morbid speculations about the notes she has begun to receive, and her agent and editor variously encourage her to bring this thirtieth novel to fruition, Cara sits at her word processor bereft of words, or the means to process the few that she drags up. Cara is not going to succeed in writing the thirtieth novel, until her speculations about the notes become an integral part of her life and her writing.

The interplay of Cara’s fiction and her life become enmeshed in her failure to separate fact and fiction. The notes become an unwieldy part of Cara’s life, encouraging her to reach implausible, to the reader, but all too plausible to Cara, decisions about her friend, husband, and her reality. Interspersed with Cara’s reactions to the notes, her insecurities about herself and suspicions about her husband’s past are the ruminations of a man who wishes her ill. His resentment of her success in contrast with his failures, lead him into punishing her for what he sees as a past unforgivable slight.

The interplay between Cara’s novel, which eventually begins to take shape, and her reality are skilful. What is fact? What is fiction? How are Cara’s reactions to events helping shape those events and those following? These questions plague the reader at the same time as they undermine Cara’s faith in her surrounds, friends, and colleagues. Cara’s link to Keogh through her using Keogh’s last novel as her own, adeptly draws upon reality to further confuse Cara, the world of the writer, and the reader. As Cara behoves herself to be sensible, not to go out into the darkened garden, not to react to events without thinking, reflecting her reactions to foolish fictional heroines, she does all these things, and more. The wall between the writer and her life crumbles with tumultuous consequences. The Writer, in contrast, comes to a satisfying conclusion. Its success lies not only in Keogh’s capability with the elements that define this genre, but in her capacity to draw together these elements with sensitivity to the writer, those close to her, and even her persecutor.

This book keeps you reading and has lots of plot twists. A good thriller. You will enjoy it you like thrillers.

Valerie’s books are always great and this is another fantastic thriller. It’s dark and tense and schisms I don’t know which way it was going to pan out. It was a really gripping thriller and I loved it!